Lost and found

I have recently returned from a wonderful week’s holiday in the Lake District. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have a break, enjoy several walks and spend the week with an amazing group of people – friends old and new on this year’s Thinking Faith retreat at Boarbank Hall in Cumbria… I last…

Not yet

I haven’t written in my gratitude journal for a couple of days, and even when I do, my handwriting is often tiny and a completely illegible scrawl. Another of my Parkinson’s symptoms. So I’m not quite putting pen to paper, but shaky fingertip to smartphone to share a few slightly random thoughts on what I…

Helter-skeltering through life with Parkinson’s

I’ve never been one for very fast rides or rides that turn you upside down. My choice of rides at a fairground was the bumper cars. I only remember going on a helter skelter a few times. It seemed like a lot of effort to climb to the top and then it seemed to be…

Everyone has a choice

One of the things that helped me to truly accept my diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease is when I realised that I always have a choice. I didn’t choose to have Parkinson’s, but I can choose how I live with it. That was the theme of one of my early blogs – Choices, choices and more choices….

The wall … and the rainbow

Walls can help us to feel safe and secure. For a long time after I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I built up a wall around me. I only wanted to share the fact that I had this degenerative, neurological condition with those closest to me. I needed time to digest and accept this life changing…

Parkinson’s – the unwanted extra part

My life is made up of different parts – there’s home life, work, friends, choir and of course there’s Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s is like that extra, unwanted part of my life – that is always there and isn’t going away It’s like in a song, there are different voices singing different parts. They all need to…

Long term conditions – a challenge

What does it mean to be diagnosed with, and to live with a long term condition? A long term condition is just that. A condition that you are stuck with long term. It’s incurable. It affects your quality of life and it isn’t going to go away. It is something that you have to learn…

Being bold

I’ve never really been one for new year’s resolutions, but earlier this year, I read an article suggesting that rather than making a list of resolutions, you think of a word to focus on for the year. I decided that having spent much of last year, slowly but surely learning to accept my diagnosis of…

Making assumptions

I am an organised person. I prefer to plan things in advance and think through different scenarios so I can be prepared. I sometimes feel uncomfortable when I am caught off guard. Before I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I remember going to a hospital appointment thinking of the possible outcomes – they could tell me…

Facts, feelings and beliefs

Before Oct 2013, I had a (mistaken) belief that Parkinson’s only affected older people. Fact: 1 in 20 people diagnosed with Parkinson’s are diagnosed under the age of 40. I’ve learned that it’s important to distinguish between facts, feelings and beliefs. “I have Parkinson’s Disease and it will get worse and I know I won’t…